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Friday, July 5, 2013

Ride for Rights

My friend Tara is here today to celebrate her book Ride for Rights, a YA historical about a girl with a bike.

Blurb:

In the
summer of 1916 women do not have the right to vote, let alone be motorcycle
dispatch riders. Two sisters, Angeline and Adelaide Hanson are determined to
prove to the world that not only are women capable of riding motorbikes, but
they can ride motorbikes across the United States. Alone.

From a dance hall in Chicago to a jail cell in Dodge City, love and trouble
both follow Angeline and Adelaide on the dirt roads across the United States.
The sisters shout their triumph from Pike’s Peak only to end up lost in the
Salt Lake desert.

Will they make it to their goal of Los Angeles or will too many mishaps prevent
them from reaching their destination and thus, hinder their desire to prove
that women can do it?

Excerpt:

There was a twinkle in
Francisco’s eyes as he looked the women up and down, taking in their dirty
riding attire and the motorbikes behind them.

“We are just moving some of
our caballos and mules to a more desirable location,” he said
smoothly. “You must be the famous sisters riding to Los Angeles and getting
into muchas problemas!” He laughed boisterously and, turning to the
conversing men waiting on their horses and mules behind him, said something in
Spanish to them all. The men began laughing and slapping their thighs with
their large hats.

Angeline didn’t like this and
stepped forward. “What are you saying?” she demanded.

Francisco gestured for his men
to be quiet. “I read your American papers. You are quite famous. You brought
trouble upon a man with many wives.” He shook his head and raised his hands in
the air as though in supplication. “More than one espousa. Por
que? Hombre loco!”

The men behind him roared their
approval once again. Finished with his antics, Francisco turned a serious face
to the women in front of him. “Crazy man, I say. One woman is enough.” He held
up a single digit. “Any more woman than that, and I would be drowning in my
José Cuervo!”

The men behind him began
yelling amongst themselves, and Angeline had no idea what they were saying but
decided it sounded rather bawdy and thus related to women and a man named José,
and it seemed harmless enough. The men looked dirty and disheveled, and she
noted they carried weapons, but the man called Francisco was smiling and did
not seem to intend them harm, so she permitted herself to relax.

Adelaide was quite charmed by
this foreign man in front of her. She liked his smooth movements and the way he
spoke with a twinkle in his eye. She also liked the idea of being famous. She
asked the man to tell her more about what he had heard.

“Well, I don’t know what
a tropa is, but I suppose you could say that.” Adelaide blushed
again. Angeline was watching from the corner of her eye.

“Tell me more.” Francisco
placed her hand in the crook of his arm. “Maybe we can help you.” He gestured
to his men to dismount, and they all rushed to obey, pulling saddlebags off
their horses or mules. “We have food and water and José Cuervo.”

Angeline was looking around for
this mysterious José they all seemed to worship so, but no man in particular
seemed to respond. She shrugged and reluctantly followed Francisco and her
sister as they walked. The men obviously under Francisco’s command were all
resting on their colorful bedrolls and chatting, occasionally looking in their
direction in curiosity.

She caught up to her sister and
new companion and grabbed her sister’s free arm, forcing her to stop her chattering
and turn around. “We really should be going. We must reach the next town before
dark,” she said in a warning tone.

Adelaide’s eyes were bright
with excitement, and her cheeks were flushed. “Francisco says we will not make
the next town before dark. He says we may join him and his men when they set up
camp.”

“Absolutely not!” Angeline
hissed, glancing discreetly at Francisco who was now directing orders at his
men. “What has gotten into you? We are two women alone surrounded by
strange, foreign men! Do you have any idea what could happen?”

“Mujures, I assure you no harm
shall come to you. Here…” Francisco came up to them and pressed a Colt dragoon
into Angeline’s hands, “for your safety.”

The dragoon was heavy, and she
struggled not to show surprise or dismay. She had never shot a weapon. She
attempted to exhibit a confidence she did not feel as she looked Francisco in
the eye. “Why?” she asked defiantly. “Why do you want us to stay with your
camp?”

“My men and I would love the
company. We have been traveling for days with nothing but ourselves, our
horses, our smelly mules, and José for company. We will not harm you, but I
will not stop you from leaving if wish you wish to do so.” He gallantly
bowed once again.

A camp was being set up near a
formation of rocks, and the men were unpacking cooking utensils as Angeline
looked at the setting sun. She sighed. They had wasted too much time. She did
not want to get lost again.

She looked at the dragoon in
her hand, and its weight reassured her. She looked at a hopeful Adelaide and
nodded her consent at Francisco. They would camp one night, but if any of the
men bothered her or her sister, she was putting this dragoon to use even if it
meant shooting her own arm off.

Tara Chevrestt is a deaf woman, former aviation mechanic, dog
mom, writer, and editor. You’ll never see her without her Kindle or a book
within reach. As a child, she would often take a flashlight under the covers to
finish the recent Nancy Drew novel when she was supposed to be sleeping.

Tara is addicted to Law
& Order: SVU, has a crush on Cary Grant, laughs at her own jokes, and
is constantly modifying recipes and experimenting in the kitchen. Her
theme is Strong is Sexy. She writes
about strong women facing obstacles—in the military, with their handicaps, or
just learning to accept themselves. Her heroines can stand alone and take care
of themselves, but they often find love in the process.